Key Concepts

Course Details

Cost

FREE

Upcoming Schedule

On demand

Course Provider

Coursera online courses

Coursera's online classes are designed to help students achieve mastery over
course material. Some of the best professors in the world - like neurobiology
professor and author Peggy Mason from the University of Chicago, and computer
science professor and Folding@Home director Vijay Pande - will supplement your
knowledge through video lectures. They will also provide challenging
assessments, interactive exercises during each lesson, and the opportunity to
use a mobile app to keep up with yo...

Coursera's online classes are designed to help students achieve mastery over
course material. Some of the best professors in the world - like neurobiology
professor and author Peggy Mason from the University of Chicago, and computer
science professor and Folding@Home director Vijay Pande - will supplement your
knowledge through video lectures. They will also provide challenging
assessments, interactive exercises during each lesson, and the opportunity to
use a mobile app to keep up with your coursework. Coursera also partners with
the US State Department to create “learning hubs” around the world. Students
can get internet access, take courses, and participate in weekly in-person
study groups to make learning even more collaborative. Begin your journey into
the mysteries of the human brain by taking courses in neuroscience. Learn how
to navigate the data infrastructures that multinational corporations use when
you discover the world of data analysis. Follow one of Coursera’s “Skill
Tracks”. Or try any one of its more than 560 available courses to help you
achieve your academic and professional goals.

Course Description

This course aims to teach everyone to learn the basics of programming computers using Python. The course has no pre-requisites and avoids all but the simplest mathematics. Anyone with moderate computer experience should be able to master the materials in this course.

The course does concentrate on data analysis, as is indicated by the course's
alternate title, Python for Informatics. It does a great job of making the
introduction to Python painless and easy for even non-programmers to
understand and learn.
As other students have indicated, I would like to see more courses offered by
Dr. Severance in the future, learning further on the topic from him would be
very beneficial to me.
Thank you, Dr. Severance!

I find the MOOC format and the COURSERA platform frustrating and clumsy compared to a live class.
This course is built around a bunch of confusing lectures in which the instructor makes a lot of mistakes (most of which he corrects and tries to explain why they were (intentional or unintentional ) mistakes). I suppose for most people the humor is a plus, but for me it is quite off-putting because it is distracting: I'm taking this course to learn, not to be entertained.
What are for the instructor simple steps seem like jumps (into the dark) for many of the students.
There are far too few easy, stepped problems. If you don't grasp what he's saying, you're pretty much lost (although the book by the same author and free to download is clearer), although some (but not all) of the TAs are a bit helpful. It is not conducive to learning to be told in a sneering tone to go back and watch again or that it was already explained...
I find the MOOC format and the COURSERA platform frustrating and clumsy compared to a live class.
This course is built around a bunch of confusing lectures in which the instructor makes a lot of mistakes (most of which he corrects and tries to explain why they were (intentional or unintentional ) mistakes). I suppose for most people the humor is a plus, but for me it is quite off-putting because it is distracting: I'm taking this course to learn, not to be entertained.
What are for the instructor simple steps seem like jumps (into the dark) for many of the students.
There are far too few easy, stepped problems. If you don't grasp what he's saying, you're pretty much lost (although the book by the same author and free to download is clearer), although some (but not all) of the TAs are a bit helpful. It is not conducive to learning to be told in a sneering tone to go back and watch again or that it was already explained before.
The lay-out of the course (i.e., the UI) is not easy to follow, and sometimes Coursera whisks me right out of the course, so I have to start back up again. Some of the GUI is not what I expect. For example, if I click on an exercise name, instead of getting that exercise, I get a canned statement to click on the icon (vaguely intuitive). The instructions on getting started did not work for me, and the forum comments showed that there were a lot of other students who were even more lost. I never was able to get the IDE set up and have been using a work-around.
The Autograder has locked up once so far. It was a couple days before I could use it, and even now it doesn't work right (contrary to what TAs said). When i am trying to learn a computer subject, the last thing I need is hassles with the learning program.
Because Python is so unforgiving, I lose a lot of time and build up a lot of thought-blocking frustration when I try just to copy a few lines of code from the video (C&P won't work, so I have to write on paper and then type it in). (I don't buy the argument that this is teaching me to be careful when I code.) One example was when I had a capital letter at the beginning of a line (because I had typed up what I'd written on paper using MSW). This brought an error message that gave me no indication of what I'd done wrong.
There are a number of slips in the videos. There is a place to report them (if one can find it). But some-times reporting an error is met with a comment that seems to say, "Aw, that's trivial,: don't worry about it." Well, when we're being taught a technical subject where four blank spaces using the space bar are not the same as four blank spaces produced by the tab key (and there is no visual basis for seeing which has been used) and other deadly errors, a course that's been around the block should have fewer errors. Calling a greater-than sign "less than" can really confuse some people (and we can't ask the professor if he menat the opposite, since it's taped).
Other problems are that the lessons don't sit with me. I work through the problems and then the next week, I am at a loss to remember either the minutia or the basic concept.
The instructor and the TAs have repeatedly said it's okay to be confused: that it will all jell. I hope so, but stuck in lesson 5 after getting correct answers on all the preceding exercises, I don't feel that I am any-where nb ear having things jell. I think the grading is set up so tha tif I don't get the perfect anwer on the exercise, I get a zero. If that happens, I guess it's all down-hill from here.
The pedagogy for this course should be fundamentally re-thought. some basic concepts in learning theory should be applied, and the staff should think seriously about the word "everybody."
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This is the perfect course for someone who is a beginner. I took a different programming course that was for beginners prior to this. Even though I did well, I didn't understand why I was doing what I was doing. With this course, I understood the logic and the why, which, of course, made it simple to remember how to program. The instructor and lessons are understandable and fun to learn and I can say I actually learned how to program.

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Student

8/10 starsCompleted4 years ago

4 years ago

This was my first MOOC. I would recommend this for a first MOOC or first programming experience. However, when I completed this course, while I understood more than what I started with, I did not feel as if I could write full programs right away. Very introductory, as it should be.

I loved this course. Everything was open and free and I could download lessons
and manuals to my laptop to review on flights. The balance between lecture and
textbook is perfect. I came from zero python knowledge and was very pleased
with what I acquired over this course. Additionally, the professor is very
personable and you can tell her cares about the course material and the
delivery method. I would easy recommend.

I expected a basic/gentle intro course which is what this was- covering all
the basic data types, control flows etc
Liked- It was well explained and served as a good prep for the much more
challenging EdX python course
Disliked- very easy
Improve- harder weekly quizzes and slightly more coding with more challenging
problems- still it served its purpose very well

I wanted to remember again the basics of programming with Python, and the
course helped me to achieve this. I really like the lessons, all of them very
useful and based on practicing in front a console. On the other hand, I did
not like the assengments. Those were not necessary, in my humble opinion. I
would improve the course with a final project and deeper content. But maybe
these are improvements for a second course...

I think they have to make it a bit more difficult. I think it is impossible
not to pass this class if you want to. It is very basic intro into Python. I
have finished An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python (IIPP) and
in this course I have only checked few videos to complete the quiz and
exercises. I have ended the final exam even with first trial 3 weeks before
the end. I think the class should be a bit more difficult or Charles has to
make a programming with Python II (or advanced)

I find the homework a bit challenging, but I am beginning to understand why.
Dr. Chuck is making me think, lol. I have to play on paper first to figure
out I'm trying to accomplish and then make sure I'm using the correct
information on the program. That takes time and so I need to adjust my
expectation to this. The math is making me nuts, however, only because I
haven't used it in so long as a stay-at-home parent. This is an excellent
course for beginners.

If you're interested in programming but are worried because it seems
complicated, this may be the class for you. Dr. Chuck's there to walk you
through the process and let you know that it's going to be ok even if you
don't understand everything at first.
The forums are very friendly and helpful (at least this session). If you're
stuck on an assignment, it's fine to post your malfunctioning code and get
some suggestions how you might fix it to complete the assignment.
If you are a more experienced programmer but you'd like some motivation to get
more familiar with Python, this is a good class too. You might skim the
lectures a bit and wish there were a few more assignments to work on, but
you'll learn the basics. This class is not primarily for you, but it won't
take much of your time and you'll probably get something out of it.
I give this course 5 stars because it is the friendliest introduction to
programming I've seen.

Programming for Everyone (PR4E) is the perfect intro class to computer
programming. In a previous review here I also gave Coursera's Intro to
Interactive Programming in Python (IIPP) 5 stars. Both classes are excellent
and well worth taking, my recommendation is to take this one first. The two
courses are quite different: PR4E focuses on data analysis, is quite leisurely
paced, has straightforward multiple choice midterm and final, and weekly
assignments require only a few lines of code. IIPP has you build graphic
games to teach Python concepts, requires a significantly higher time
commitment with more intensive weekly quizzes on top of weekly projects that
get progressively harder and need many more lines of code. The different
approaches highlight the versatility and power of the Python language. To
reiterate, take both classes, but start with this one!

Dr. Chuck brings us another noob-friendly course. After completing this
course, you won't understand much about programming, BUT it'll give you the
basics to succeed in much harder courses. I'd recomend this course to
everybody, who want's to learn to program, but has huge difficulties do do so.
Topic - 5/10 Class spirit 10/10 Entertaing 4/10

I was taking Rice's Introduction to Interactive Programming with Python (IIPP)
when I started Programming for Everyone. Dr. Chuck is a great professor with a
style that is engaging and holds your interest. This class worked with small
programs, so nothing rough for a programming beginner. For me the practice
programs were right up my alley with data types that I have worked with
before. This has given me a new approach to dealing with the data that a
Systems Administrator deals with. Programming for Everyone was not as deep and
detailed as IIPP, but it still teaches the basics to get you started
programming. My only complaint is that Dr. Chuck doesn't teach a Programming
for Everyone 2 class.

I expected to gain some introductory knowledge in the Python programming
language. I definitely received this and some more. I enjoyed the class and
there was nothing I really disliked about it. The class ended with a couple
of chapters left in Dr. Chuck's book that were not covered. I would recommend
that Coursera find a way to integrate these chapters in the class, even if
they are not graded by the autograder. They could always be completed by peer
assessment of some other method of grading. Although I could complete these
at pythonlearn.com, it is more fun when you are working in a class with other
people. All in all it was a great class and I enjoyed it very much. Highly
recommended!

I had a little knowledge of Python and computer language syntax. The professor
is engaging and loves MOOCs. The class went slow and steady as an intro course
should. The quizzes and final were representative of the coursework.

I have very little experience with programming and hence wanted to ensure that
I build a proper foundation and this course seemed to be great step in the
direction. This was my second on-line course and stands out because of the
professor's passion to teach and this course is literally for anyone who
simply wants to start programming.